New Taycan Turbo 'GT4 RS' is fast lap monster
How serious is Porsche about its Nordschleife EV record? Take a look for yourself...
Like most of us, Porsche can't have banked on its Nurburgring record with the Taycan Turbo GT being surpassed. It had, after all, notched up a new EV Executive car record in 2023 - 7:07.55, in case you’d forgotten - that was more than 25 seconds faster than the old fastest time. Its own old fastest time, in fact, being a 7:33.35 set by a standard Turbo S. The gauntlet had been emphatically thrown down, and it would be years, surely, before anyone took it up.
In the end, it was little more than 18 months. You might remember that in April, Chinese firm Xiaomi sent sometime BTCC racer Vincent Radermecker around in an SU7 Ultra with Track Package; the time set then was 7:04.957, officially beating Porsche’s lap record - and going faster than a Rimac Nevera in the process. Now, of course, there’s no way this could stand in Stuttgart; Porsche currently has the Nurburgring production car records for Executive cars (Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, 7:24.172), Sports cars (a Manthey GT2 RS, 6:43.300) and modified vehicles with another Manthey 911. Losing the EV accolade probably smarts a little, so this is the rcoket-grade Taycan Porsche wants to reclaim the crown with. They can worry about people actually buying one another time.
Our spy sources are calling this car a Taycan Turbo GT4 RS, which will send those people still upset about an EV with a Turbo badge into an absolute meltdown. Certainly it looks as extreme as you might expect for a car carrying that moniker, with giant endplates on a surfboard rear wing, carbon front wings and flics like it’s a WEC-spec 911, plus a diffuser that could have come from a 963 (if current regulations allowed something so extreme). To say nothing of the tacked-on arches and splitter hooked into the grille like a proper Nurburgring track hack. A Turbo GT is extreme; this thing is borderline unbelievable.
But it certainly exists, and Porsche is absolutely serious about its Nurburgring glory streak. Check out the brake discs glowing lava hot for one thing, which is going to take some serious legwork to build up. But there’s also the fact that two super duper Taycans have been seen at the Nurburgring, as well as Lars Kern - the man typically trusted with Porsche’s record runs. They are all trying so hard, in fact, that the diffuser of the grey car was apparently damaged on a hot lap, which surely puts to bed any idea that it was durability testing or something similar. Porsche is on a mission, and chose an evening perfectly suited to quick laps for its attempt. Apparently, the purple car went undamaged, and faster…
Given our spy snapper - a chap highly accustomed to seeing stuff speeding past him - called this car a “rocket”, and given how well a Turbo GT manages its phenomenal power, we’d expect yet more horsepower from whatever this Taycan becomes. As a reminder, the existing model delivers a 1,108hp system peak for two seconds, 1,034hp in Launch Control and 952hp in Attack Mode. The Xiaomi is 1,548hp strong and, well, if you can’t beat them, you better join them.
There will clearly be more to follow, basically. Could this be the first Porsche EV to duck under seven minutes? There surely can’t be long left in this calendar year for favourable track conditions. A record this side of the winter would at least allow Porsche a few months of top dog status again. And Xiaomi could spend the time getting the SU7 Ultra prototype - you know, the one that did 6:22.091 earlier this year - somewhere closer to production specification. Should be a fun period for those of us partial to a Nordschleife onboard…
That said, couldn't give two flux capacitors about this ev willy waving
What's the point with these stupidly fast cars, to have more dramas on the streets? When the vast majority of the drivers - yes including enthusiasts - have a hard time mastering even a 200 hp car that gets out of control.
(everybody moaning about too much power... We need power!)
What's the point with these stupidly fast cars, to have more dramas on the streets? When the vast majority of the drivers - yes including enthusiasts - have a hard time mastering even a 200 hp car that gets out of control.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff